Movie Review 40: Jeon Woo Chi: The Taoist Wizard

Title: Jeon Woochi: The Taoist Wizard (known as "The Tao Fighter: Woochi" in Malaysia) (Korean)

Director: Choi Dong-Hun

Running time: 1 hour 53 minutes

Genre: Fantasy, Action

Woochi (Kang Dong-won) is a Tao wizard from the Chosun dynasty. However, he likes to play tricks on people who he thinks is corrupt and is in need of a good punishment. He accidentally came across a sacred relic that is searched by the demons of the underworld. Through deceit, the demons managed to get Woochi trapped into a scroll but not before Woochi snatched the sacred relic from the demon. Five centuries later, the world is embroiled with demons again and the only hope that the world has is Woochi.

It is my belief that Koreans make really good fantasy movies. Sure they make good love stories too, but whenever one director decided to make a movie that does not have love as the main theme, it amazes the world (yes, yes, I'm exaggerating!)

Anyhow, this movie is great. The fighting scenes, special effects are all top notch and is used in such a way that one doesn't feel over the top. Their wire works are excellent too, their "flying skills" are actually more graceful and natural than the Chinese ones.

The lead actor, Kang Dong-won is able to carry off his mischievous character convincingly. His antics are hilarious and I've seldom seen a male actor fighting in such a graceful way. The flapping of his robes, turning of the hand, stepping on the ground are all perfectly done that it really resemble the ways of the Koreans in the olden days.

The storyline is great, with a great twist in the middle (not a twist anymore if you've read my summary :P) and there're no boring, squishy love scenes! One little negative experience that I have is I have trouble in keeping up with the subtitles. The actors and actresses speak in great speed and the subtitles kept on changing every few seconds. I would have been better if the subtitles are actually in two lines instead of one. As such, I have to choose to either appreciate the movie without understanding what they are talking about or reading the subtitles but missing out the acting.

Anyhow, for those who do not mind reading subtitles and enjoy Korean styled action movies, this is the one you should go to! Unfortunately, it doesn't receive the acceptance it's supposed to have. There were only three other people in the cinema while I watched this!

Observation: I don't understand how Woochi claimed he cannot perform magic when he does not have his magical symbols but doesn't need use them when he perform his magic when he has them in his pouch.

Bottomline: Knowing Korean language would boost the experience with this great movie!

Bamboo Ranking: 4.0 / 5.0

Night at Malacca

So, after attending my friend's wedding luncheon in Malacca, and dumping my super drunk friend in the toilet of our hotel room, my other university friends met up at night to relive the memories of our stay in Malacca 5 years ago.

First stop, is of course, the super famous... Sate Celup!

The price of these "Sate" has markedly increased... no thanks to the super rich university students spending like crazy!

Super thick and delicious gravy that we cooked our "Sate"in....

Next stop, is a shop that we haven't heard of during our uni life... however it is quite famous these few years... what is it famous for? Mille Crepe!

Strawberry Mille Crepe...

Cheese Mille Crepe... well, it's safe to say that this is not like any cake that you ever had before... the "thousand" layered cake feels really different when you put it in your mouth... a must try if you're in Malacca... near Mahkota Parade...

Then, we went and visit something new... the Menara Taming Sari... basically, it's just a circular tram that moves slowly up, enabling you to enjoy the night scenery of Malacca... RM12 per ride, I think... really not worth it :P

The other people who rode with me...

A photo of night scenery... yeah, it's not very clear... I'm taking picture in a moving vehicle at night... okay... maybe even SLR is not able to take good pictures in this situation... and I realized with horror that the street below us is super jammed! Apparently it happens every weekend from morning till night!

Our next trip is to eat dim sum which opens at night... however, after got caught in heavy traffic and frantic search, we found that it was closed... so, we just sit down in a nearby food stall and had a burger... the burger   ayam special... nice!

After that, we stop by at another stall that opens late into the night... it's already midnight! This time, it's a stall famous for duck meat noodles... though the one in the picture is not a duck meat noodles... no idea what it is :P

Mango sago...

Chicken feet noodles...

It was about this time that my drunk friend woke up and calling me to asked what happened! We had a really fun time spinning tall tales about his drunken behaviour...

Unfortunately, I had to wash the hotel bathroom floor before I sleep and it was around 2am before I can finally rest!

The next morning, I realized something really nice in the bathroom...

The various flavours of body showers and even moisturizer! And they smelled really nice!

Well, staying in Malacca brought back some really fond memories... a life without worries and a life that the day began at night and ends when the sun comes up! 

Kiat Soon's Wedding

Ah, Malacca, how I missed you... the opportunity (or rather excuse) to visit Malacca came when one of my ex-coursemate held his wedding in Malacca. The wedding meal was a luncheon and it was held in Rennaissance Hotel.

I was figuring out on whether to take a bus or plane there when my friend offered to drive me there! Hurrah! We arrived at Malacca around before 12 and checked into the hotel room that was booked by the groom for us... which is a really fortunate matter (more on that later).

Anyhow, following are the pictures taken over there...

Ice goose... or is it a swan?

Top tier of the wedding cake...

Stage decoration...

Main table decoration

Another angle of the main table...

The one in the red box is fruit cake and the one in the yellow box is a customized chocolate... the pictures and words are white chocolate! Didn't managed to try them as it melted when I reached home :(

First dish... Rennaissance Five Treasure Hot & Cold Hors D'oeuvre Combination... surprisingly nice... I've never put much faith in hotel food, but this one is a real nice opener...

Braised Shark's Fin Soup with Crab Meat & Dried Scallops... fist time I see that the shark's fin come separately and was poured into the soup when served... but still, I think the starch / shark's fin ratio is too high :P

The band for the day... Rhumba Fusion Band... apparently quite famous in KL... visited their webpage and they performed for really a lot of events... got four of five of them with 3 of them singing alternately... and I think they are worth the fame... wonder how much they are charging :P 

Roasted Crispy Chicken with Prawns Cracker... the chicken is too tender... prefer the prawn cracker :P

Steam Pomfret-Hong Kong Style... nothing special about it...

Champagne pouring ceremony...

Fried Prawns in Two Varieties... love especially the salad prawns...

Braised Sliced Pearl Abalone with Pacific Clams... 

Steamed Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf...

Deep Fried Sesame Ball with Lotus Seed... nice!

Sweetened Red Bean Cream with Rice Dumpling... not your normal dessert...the Red Bean Cream is not really that nice, but at least it's special!

These two bottles were empty by the end of the lunch!

A group of drunkards drinking :P... notice the dark brown liquid... they are all alcohol... not even one single drop of tea... the bride's uncle who is drinking with us, checked every glass before drinking his own.

The guys... two of them are super drunk...:P

My day did not end there... my friend who brought me to Malacca was madly drunk. My other friends have to take him by each arm to take him back to his room up in the hotel (thankfully we decided to stay there)... and when he reached the bathroom he started vomiting... first in the toilet bowl, then the wash basin and finally on the floor! And he vomited from 3pm to 8pm! I didn't dare to take a nap and cannot go into the bathroom! And he was giving me this cold stare whenever I tried to guide him to his bed. So, I just check up on him now and then and just let him vomit all over the bathroom floor.

It was the first time I have to take care of a drunk all by myself and it was a really eye opening experience. My strategy is to leave him alone and just check up on him now and then to ensure he's still breathing :P. Anyhow, despite the rather unpleasant experience with my friend, I think it is still worth the trip to drive so far to Malacca (no I drive mah :P)